The Tree of Souls
by Cyricist001
Summary: A little one-shot/challenge.


The Tree of Souls

I own nothing

Challenge

* * *

Devil Fruits...

Many people craved to poses them, be it for the power that they would bestow upon the person that ate it, or as a means of getting rich by selling them to the highest bidder.

But there was more to them than people originally assumed.

The tree that made the fruit wasn't like any normal tree one could find for it didn't sustain itself through photosynthesis or any process known to natural flora and fauna.

In fact it devoured souls and its fruit was the bait.

When a person that consumed a Devil Fruit finally died the soul would be absorbed by the tree, no spirit has ever been able to resist its call.

And so the process continued over the eons as the number of imprisoned soul's in the tree grew.

The world changed, continents fragmented and island combined, governments rose and fell but the tree remained undisturbed.

And then it happened...something that never transpired before came to pass.

The Kyuubi, a creature partially made from spiritual energy launched one of its Tailed Beast Bombs at the ninja village of Konoha. The resulting explosion destroyed a great part of the village, killing hundreds in a instant but it also managed to damage one of the root's the tree had extended over the world.

And from that spot a number of soul's managed to escape the tree's grasp. But since they were mere souls easily pulled back by the tree, the spirits of the deceased decided to seek refuge in any nearby acceptable mortal vessel.

They needed time to bring the tree down before they are recaptured by it once more.

* * *

Seven years have passed since the Kyuubi's attack on Konohagakure no Sato, though the scars of the incident haven't healed completely.

Sarutobi knew that such trauma didn't disappear quickly...if ever.

At this moment the Hokage and the Jounin instructors watched the display behind the Ninja Academy. Normally there would be little reason that a kage would concern himself with the fighting prowess of genin, but the children of this generation were...strange.

"Should we start the match-ups?" asked Inoichi, not even sparing a glance to the figure of Danzo who was also standing beside them.

Sarutobi nodded. Normally children who barely spend any real time in the academy wouldn't be asked to participate in sparring matches...hell, they should only now be learning tajutsu but according to the teachers they were already far ahead in that regard, at least that was the conclusion he received from their parents.

As soon as Iruka saw the signal to begin the fight he turned to his students "Okay...here goes nothings" said the teacher as he pulled three papers from his pocket...he immediately returned one and opened the other two papers and read the names out loud.

First battle: Naruto Uzumaki vs Shikamaru Nara

"Awesome! I'm first!" shouted Naruto as he rushed onto the training ground. His opponent wasn't that thrilled, in fact this whole thing was a great pain in the rear.

Shikamaru's eyes went from his teacher to the Hokage then back to Iruka...It was obvious that he couldn't simply throw the towel...but he really had zero desire to do this...

"Here I come!" shouted the blond kid as he rushed his classmate...even before the Nara could raise his hand in surrender.

Shikamaru barely had time to dodge the attack before it connected, seeing how Naruto was out of balance he used one of the kunai they were allowed to use in this fights and threw it to incapacitate his opponent.

Naruto grunted from the hit of the weapon, the blade stopping when it reached bone.

Sarutobi winced and was about to call of the match so the medics could help Naruto when something strange happened. Naruto grinned and pulled the weapon out of his shoulder before throwing it on the ground and in a instant the wound disappeared in blue flames like it was never there.

"Hah! That wont work on me!" shouted Naruto as blue fire surrounded him, his arms turning into wings of azure flame. With one move he was airborne, rushing at the surprised Nara.

And his opponent wasn't the only one coughed off guard. The gathered jounin and chunin were as dumbfounded as the children.

"What kind of bloodline is that?" said the astonished Hokage "that is not a Uzumaki trait no matter how one looks at it."

"True" mused Danzo "Uzumaki chakra is more potent than normal chakra, but it never gave their clan regeneration...especially not of that magnitude."

"Hmmm, this looks like something more along the lines of the Hōzuki clan, but with fire instead of water" mused Sarutobi as he watched one of Naruto's wings hit Shikamaru in the chest, sending the boy flying.

"What about the Nara heir? All his parents told me about him is that he is troublesome...what ability did he reveal?" asked Danzo.

"Looks like we shall see it now..." was the Hokages response as Shikamaru stood up with some difficulty.

The young Nara saw the blond kid grin as he was floating in the air before he rocketed again against him.

Darkness engulfed Shikamarus hand and in the last second he released his technique "Black Hole!"

Naruto disappeared inside the cloud of pure darkness that engulfed him, leaving only Shikamaru standing in the 'arena'.

Iruka blinked, then once more "Errr Shikamaru where is Naruto?"

Nara shrugged "Trapped in the darkness...so did I win?"

His teacher nodded "Can you...bring him back?"

The Nara lazily nodded and raised his hand "Liberation!" and Naruto was expelled from the Black Hole, the injuries he sustained by the crushing gravity instantly healing thanks to the blue flames.

The blond rose to his feat and glared at the Nara "Bastard, I'll show you!" growled Naruto but was stopped when Iruka placed his hand on the child's shoulder.

"That's enough, Shikamaru won you will have to wait for the rematch since we still need to test the others."

Naruto complained, but still made his way to the sidelines.

Second battle: Ino Yamanaka vs Choji Akamichi

Inoichi watched as his daughter entered the ring together with Chōza's son. He was curious what strange ability the boy developed...most families were rather tight lipped about such things.

When his daughter told him she made a friend named Jozu he wasn't worried, when she told him he was in her head he was worried...when she started to display strange abilities she apparently learned from the enigma named Jozu, he was on full alert. Using his clan technique he, with Ino's permission, entered her subconsciousness and met the foreigner.

He had a very enlightening conversation with the man to say the least.

"Time to shine!" said Ino as her form changed...her body turning into diamond.

Ino smiled as she watched the people gap at her "Beautiful isn't it!" she said as she observed her diamond covered hands, then she looked at her opponent "lets do it fatso!"

"I'M NOT FAT!" shouted Choji as he punched the air, making cracks appear in it "Kaishin!"

Ino didn't even manage to blink before she was blow away by the shock waves that Choji caused by striking the air.

Ino grinned as she finally stopped herself "This is going to be fun!" she said and rocketed at her opponent "Brilliant Punk!"

"Kabutowari!" said Choji as he forced a shock-wave into his hand and punched the diamond girl, their fists colliding midair. The released shock-wave made both of the combatants crash a short distance away, or in Ino's case punch a hole in the academy wall when she crashed through it.

Choji dusted himself off as he rose to his feet and watched as the diamond girl walked out of the hole without any injury.

"Not bad..." she said.

Iruka laughed nervously as he looked at the damage caused by this fight...that turned into a full panic attack when Ino pushed her hands into the ground and pulled out a huge rock, ready to throw it at Choji who was ready to shatter it to pieces.

Sensing that this will only get worse the longer the fight continues the teacher decided to stop it "Okay, since our time is limited, as is our budget for repairs, I decide this fight is a draw."

Both Choji and Ino shrugged at that and left to stand beside Shikamaru and Naruto.

Third battle: Sasuke Uchiha vs Hinata Hyuuga

The Uchiha scion said nothing as he entered the arena, the only indication he was prepared for battle was the tanto in his left hand. The Hyuuga girl looked a little nervous but after a few short breaths she calmed down and focused on her opponent.

"Start!"

"Room!" said Sasuke, and before Hinata could blink he cut the air with his knife.

The gathered people gasped at the horror that happened in in front of their eyes...

The heiress to the Hyuuga clan fell to the ground in pieces...the Uchiha scions had bisected her.

Iruka panicked as he ran to the girl "S-Sasuke what the hell do you think you are doing!"

Almost instantly the Hokage shunshined down "Get the medics here this instant!" then he turned to the Uchiha "Why would you do something like this..." asked the old man sternly even as Sasuke leisurely sheathed his blade.

"She isn't dead, I simply disabled her and I can as easily reassemble her back" was his bored reply.

Sarutobi was about to ask what he was talking about when something strange happened, a arm grew from the boys shoulder and taped his back making Sasuke collapse on the floor unconscious.

The arm then disappeared in a burst of petals, leaving the astonished Sarutobi looking at the scene with no rhyme or reason.

"I win"

The Hokage turned around and stared at the smiling girl that proclaimed her victory...around her the other teachers and medic ninjas were equally surprised...and disturbed, hard not to be since she was cut in two not a minute before...

"It looks like she is alive and well Hokage-sama" said one of the medics that rushed to help the girl "though her body is in pieces she still has the sense of touch in all of them" to emphasize the point the doctor showed the Hokage Hinata's severed arm that was waiving at him.

"How is this possible?" wondered the old man.

The medic shrugged "Your guess is as good as mine, I don't know even how to combine the separated parts...it would be best to leave the Uchiha boy to put her back together when he wakes up."

Iruka sighed at the insanity "Get them to the hospital for the time being" he then turned to Sarutobi "are we going to continue with this?"

"Naturally, as far as I see the children were in full control of the situation until you overreacted" was Danzo's reply, earning himself a withering glare from Sarutobi and downcast look from Iruka.

"Who is next?"

Fourth Battle: Sakura Haruno vs Kiba Inuzuka

"Its about time!" grinned the wild boy as he and his dog walked into the arena "now we can show off!"

He then saw his opponent, a pink haired girl.

"Let's do this fast!" he said as he grabbed a few stones from the ground "you ready pinky?"

"Don't patronize me!" she shouted as she opened her palms and a bunch of strange things appeared.

"Ghost Rap!" she said and launched the strange things at the Inuzuka.

"Hmmm interesting" he said and threw his rocks "More More Hundredfold Gun!"

What were small harmless rocks turned into boulders mid-flight, Sakura could only gasp as she was hit by the projectiles.

"What? Don't tell me that was all it took to bring you down?" asked the disappointed Kiba.

"You wish!" came Sakura's mocking voice as her astral projection reassembled herself "it will take more than that to defeat me, Negative Hollow!"

"Huh too slow!" smirked Kiba "More More Hundredfold Speed!" and disappeared before the ghosts could touch him, appearing behind Sakura's astral body and delivering a kick...only for it too pass harmlessly through her body.

"What?!" said the surprised Inuzuka.

A bark from Akamaru shifted his attention too the side where he saw Sakura's real body sleeping on the ground...not that he had the time to use that knowledge since the next moment a Negative Hollow passed through him.

"I'm a disgrace too humanity...I should have never been born" cried the boy even as he was surrounded by Mini Hollows ready to explode at any moment.

"Do you surrender?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, I'm not worthy of fighting anyone..."

Sakura grinned and pumped up her fist, she will brag about this victory to Perona once she goes back into her mindscape.

"The winner is Sakura Haruno..." said Iruka as he watched the Inuzuka wallow in depression on the ground.

Iruka wasn't the only one disturbed by how utterly the boy's spirit was crushed...truly bizarre.

"Is that everyone?" asked the Hokage.

The teachers shook their heads "No, Shino Aburame is left, but he has no more opponents...we could make him fight someone who had already fought but that would give him an advantage since he already watched their fights."

"I see..." mused Sarutobi "wasn't there a few of the abnormals already in the second years?"

"Yes there are...three if I'm not mistaken. Should we call them out?"

"No, it isn't necessary" said Sarutobi "though if you could remind me who they were again..."

Danzo didn't even need the file to know that...

Neji Hyuuga, a member of the branch family and apparently the first choice for the student of the year award. His ability is a strange one...he can apparently repel away anything he wants...weapons, jutsu he simply pushes them away with the palm of his hand...even fatigue. Normally he combines his Gentle Fist with compressed air, attacks he coined Ursus Shock and Pad Ho respectively.

The second one was Rock Lee...the dead last of his year. His ability revolves around manipulation of hormones...and apparently winking. He could change gender, provide healing, boost physical attributes...its more than likely that he will supplement as the teams medic, and considering how few medics they had not a bad tradeoff.

The last of the group is a girl named Tenten, who has the power to turn people to stone apparently...very dangerous in both close and range combat.

He listened attentively as the young Aburame scion walked over to Sarutobi and started to explain his ability...and how he was unhappy that he didn't get to fight anyone.

"So let me get this straight" said the Hokage as he rubbed his forehead "you can turn people you touch into toys, the transformed people are erased from the memory of everyone who knew about them and on top of that they have to do whatever you tell them to do...is that all?"

The boy nodded.

"Very well, you can get back to your classmates now" said the old man as he turned to the other teachers and jounin.

"So...any ideas?"

Kakashi shrugged "As long as I get to cherry pick my team I'm fine."

The other people shook their heads at the comment, though none of them were really displeased...the more bloodlines they had the better.

Sarutobi sighed "I have a feeling that this will only get weirder."

END

* * *

I distributed the DF so they compensate in a field that the character lacks, like Choji who is a short range fighter benefiting from a DF that gives him long and mid range attacks, or Ino who is a mid range support now bolstering her defenses to be less vulnerable in short range combat.

Shino Aburame (long/mid range) - Sugar

Ino Yamanaka (mid range) - Diamond Jozu

Naruto Uzumaki (all around) - Marco

Sasuke Uchiha (all around) - Law

Tenten (close/mid range) - Boa

Sakura (close range) - Perona

Neji (close range) - Kuma

Hinata (close range) - Robin

Kiba (close range) - Brynndi

Lee (close range) - Ivankov

Choji (close range) - Whitebeard

Shikamaru (mid range) - Teach

Since this is spiritual possession (the way Kyuubi resides in Naruto, the ghosts of the OP characters are giving the children powers and training in exchange for help in destroying the Devil Tree) and since the children haven't eaten a Devil Fruit they don't weaken from contact with water.


End file.
